Right Beside Song Taeyeong
The Coordination members standing right beside Song Taeyeong could only stare, struck dumb by the impossible sight.
More than the fact that Song Taeyeong was dead—
"……That wasn't something only Song Taeyeong could use?"
"I thought it was some kind of Unique ability……."
What shook them was this: he had been killed by Space Domination, the skill that might as well have been his personal trademark, turned on him in exactly the same way.
Ban Soyeon laughed as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"You're not going to run?"
Yujun said it quietly. The voice wasn't loud, but to them it came through with perfect clarity.
Han Jiyun was the first to snap back to herself.
"Let's go."
"Ah— uh……."
In a single instant they were gone, Choe Gangmin's corpse in their arms.
Yujun felt their presence draw away and let out a thin sigh. Then he glanced back.
"Well? Did that have some impact?"
Paranet applauded with hands that were nothing but bone.
"As expected of you, Master. Your charisma is no small thing. To see the enemy tremble so pitifully before your majesty was almost enough to stir one's sympathy. And the disgraceful flight at the end—nothing short of exhilarating."
At the exaggerated delivery, Yujun broke into a loose laugh. The humiliation of that so-called tactical retreat—of fleeing into the Abyss, whatever one cared to call it—felt properly repaid, and his mood was not bad at all.
Three figures were running hard: Ban Soyeon, Cheon Sihyeon, and Han Jiyun.
"So, unni? Was he to your liking?" Ban Soyeon said, the words edged with mockery.
Han Jiyun gave a bitter smile.
"I had no idea he was that strong. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"I only just found out myself. He wasn't this strong before. He's a completely different person from two days ago. Who could have known he'd turn into that kind of monster in so little time?"
"Noona. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
Cheon Sihyeon's eyes were fixed on Ban Soyeon alone.
"Jiyun-unni's right here. I'm fine. The problem is the one who's already dead."
Running with Choe Gangmin's body in her arms, Ban Soyeon bit down hard on her lip. Song Taeyeong's corpse hadn't even kept its shape, so they hadn't been able to retrieve it. Cheon Sihyeon's expression was no better.
"He left us alive on purpose."
"Pride stung?"
"Yeah."
"Sihyeon. You keep your pride by knowing who you're up against."
"I know. That's why I'm even angrier."
Since coming to the Tower of Infinity, this was the first time Cheon Sihyeon had suffered a humiliation like this. It cut all the deeper because he had climbed so high at a younger age than most.
"What do we tell the leader?" Han Jiyun asked, her face dark.
"We tell him it looks like the leader's going to have to step in himself. There's nothing we can do. The man was that strong."
"Didn't they say the leader's in the Demon Realm right now, in the middle of something big?"
"They did, but……."
"Ha. How did it come to this."
"We never should have given that man time."
"Regretting what's already passed won't change a thing."
"Haa……."
Ban Soyeon let out another deep sigh. For Coordination—perched at the very peak even among the highest rankers—it was a wretched sight.
Yujun smiled, well pleased. The business in the Abyss was settled, and he had landed a solid blow on Coordination besides.
My item setup is perfect right now, too.
The problem was that level 500 was not the end. Nor was Mythic the final grade. His inventory held nothing beyond level 500 Mythic items, which meant that later on he could not rule out the chance of others catching up.
Growing this far in a few months is already absurd, I'll grant that.
Even so, he was not yet at the point where he could call himself safe.
Beating Coordination doesn't mean it's over.
There might be people even worse than Coordination. At first he had never imagined players above level 500 could exist, and yet there they were: a group called Coordination, composed entirely of people past that line.
What I know isn't everything.
Then he would have to keep thinking one step further ahead.
I need to get stronger.
The grade said to lie beyond Mythic: Transcendence Grade. He had to obtain Transcendent items. He had started five years later than everyone else. If he meant to pull ahead, that much was necessary.
How do I get Transcendence Grade?
He didn't know. Not yet. The witch Manuela had been the one to give him a clue about it. There was a chance she knew more. Yujun settled on a plan: get a lead on Transcendent items from the witch. Scrambling only to raise his level, he thought, would not open any real gap between him and the rest.
I'll be the first to obtain Transcendence Grade.
Even if someone already had one, it didn't matter. He only needed to hold more Transcendent items than they did. The hunger to collect items lit another fire in him.
The witch was in the Demon Realm. Which meant he had to cross over.
Should I put the Coordination business on hold for now?
His ultimate goal was stopping the Demon God's Invasion anyway. Or stopping the destruction of Earth. Whether Coordination stood in the way of that or not hardly mattered.
The problem was—
I don't know the Demon Realm very well…….
War of the Gods had a Demon Realm too, but he had been too busy roaming the Continent and gathering items, and his visits there had been few. He was not a complete outsider, yet he could hardly claim to know the lay of the land.
Someone fluent in the Demon Realm's geography and ecology. Who would that be?
The name that came to mind was Pink Pinkku Rabbit, whom he had met twice at the Black Market. He remembered her going to the Demon Realm often in the game. Among the rankers still around back then, no one had known it better than she did.
Should I contact her?
They had never exchanged messengers, but he had received from her a video orb that allowed one-to-one communication. Yujun did not hesitate. He took the orb out at once, fed mana into it, and requested a connection.
"……."
For a long while there was no answer. Then, at some point, light gathered in the orb, and a woman beautiful enough to startle him appeared on the screen. Her eyes had gone wide.
"No-Pay Casual Gamer? That is you, isn't it?"
"My real name is Shin Yujun."
"Yujun. All right. But you're not hiding your face?"
"I have a favor to ask."
"Of me? You know who I am, don't you?"
"You're Do Jiyun."
"Huh? Did I tell you that last time?"
"You must have."
"I'm an extremely busy person."
"I know."
"May I ask what the favor is?"
"Please come to the Demon Realm with me."
"……What?"
When Yujun said it so bluntly, Do Jiyun was thrown.
"The Demon Realm? Right now?"
"Yes."
"No-Pay— no, Yujun, you know perfectly well what kind of place that is."
"I do."
"And you still mean to go there? With me, no less?"
"Yes. As Pink Pinkku Rabbit, you went to the Demon Realm dozens of times, just to get a single consumable. I remember."
"Mmm."
Do Jiyun swallowed a groan. Since being forcibly summoned to the Tower of Infinity, she had not gone to the Demon Realm even once. She had gone often enough in the game, but there was no guarantee it would be exactly as she remembered.
"You don't need to know it with perfect accuracy. I only want to be prepared, in case."
"Yujun. How strong are you right now?"
"……Sorry?"
Realizing the question was an odd one, Do Jiyun hurriedly changed tack.
"What's your level?"
"352."
"……How much?"
"352."
"Why is it so low?"
It made no sense. He was clearly a strong man. She could tell as much from the presence she had felt off him at the Black Market, and from the caliber of the items he had sold. And his level was still 352?
"There are circumstances."
"What circumstances?"
"That, I can't tell you."
"In any case, at level 352, going to the Demon Realm right now is dangerous. No matter how strong you are."
"Why is that?"
"Level 500. If you haven't reached that level, something called caliber keeps a fight from even forming."
He had felt it before. The Coordination members were past level 500, and whether because of that gap in caliber, Yujun—whose items and stats were the superior ones—had still been hard-pressed. In the last fight he had seized victory through overwhelming firepower, but he knew for certain now that caliber was real.
"What exactly do you mean, a fight doesn't form?"
"Level 500 is the line. The difference before and after you reach it is enormous. Say there's a level 500 player and a level 400 player."
"Yes."
"Assume they have identical items and identical stats. A level 499 player can never beat a level 500 player. Combat experience? Skill with a weapon? All of that becomes meaningless."
Yujun listened to Do Jiyun in silence.
"What I'm saying is, level is everything. Past 500 that ridiculous gap in power does disappear, but every single level still matters just the same."
"So it isn't simply a matter of stats. The level itself carries a power of its own?"
"Yes. Strictly speaking, from level 500 on. Of course, even after 500, skills and items matter just as much."
"And stats? They don't mean much?"
"No. Stats matter too. But the most important thing is that you reach level 500."
Yujun offered a faint smile. Nothing she said was wrong. But it was not impossible to defeat a player of level 500 or higher without being level 500 yourself.
Because I've actually done it.
Then Do Jiyun spoke again.
"I don't know why you want to go to the Demon Realm, but how about putting that off until later?"
"Do Jiyun."
"Yes."
"Do you know about Coordination?"
"……Yes. Why?"
"Are you one of them?"
"No. They did make me an offer, actually, but Coordination's record is too filthy, so I simply turned them down."
That sounded about right. If she had belonged to Coordination, there was no way she would not know who he was.
"I've made an enemy of Coordination."
At Yujun's words, Do Jiyun startled.
"You have? With Coordination?"
"Yes. I've already killed two of their members. They'll likely try anything to kill me."
"……W-wait a moment."
"Go ahead."
"You already killed two of them? Two members of Coordination?"
"Yes. Today."
"Yujun. You said you were level 352."
"That's right. But, Jiyun—level isn't everything."
"I just explained. A player who hasn't reached 500 can hardly ever beat a player above 500. And every Coordination player is over level 500."
"Level does seem to matter, I'll give you that. Their strength was on a completely different plane from other players'."
If he had not fled to the Abyss and built his strength, he might have been the one who died. He had learned well enough then just how much level mattered.
"But I'm stronger than those Coordination bastards."
The confidence in his voice was grounded in fact, without a shred of exaggeration. Yujun had, in truth, killed members of Coordination with ease. Do Jiyun did not know how to answer.
"……."
She found herself wondering whether the story he was telling had been made up.
"Is what you said earlier true? That you killed Coordination members."
"What's your level, Do Jiyun?"
"I'm level 501."
"Fight me, and you'll know whether I was talking nonsense or not."
Yujun said it without a change of expression. His face was at ease. It did not seem like baseless confidence. Do Jiyun thought for a long while before she spoke.
"I am busy, but I can hardly refuse a request from No-Pay Casual Gamer, who held rank one. I'll go to the Demon Realm with you."
"You don't need to test me?"
"Even back when we were playing, you never exaggerated once. In an online game, people are busy inventing things that happened and things that didn't, just to dress themselves up. You weren't like that. So I believe you."
"Thank you. Where should we meet?"
"Let me get ready first."
"Ready?"
"You said you've made an enemy of Coordination. I don't want those people chasing me, so I'll need to hide who I am."
"Ah……."
Now that he thought about it, Do Jiyun was not on hostile terms with Coordination. If they saw her with him, she would be making an enemy for no reason—and that enemy was the most frightening group in the Tower of Infinity.
"Thank you for taking on a difficult request."
"So long as you know it's difficult."
Do Jiyun said it with a mischievous smile.